Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Texas executes man who murdered while on parole for murder

A Dallas man, William Rayford, was executed on January 30, 2018 for the 1999 slaying of
his ex-girlfriend while he already was on parole for killing his estranged
wife, reported The Associated Press.

Rayford, 64, became the nation’s second inmate put
to death this year, both in Texas, when he received lethal injection for
beating, stabbing and strangling 44-year-old Carol Lynn Thomas Hall. Her body
was found about 300 feet (91 meters) inside a drainage pipe behind her home in
South Dallas’ Oak Cliff area. Hall’s 11-year-old son, Benjamin, also was
stabbed in the attack but survived. He testified against Rayford.

Asked by the warden at the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice Huntsville Unit if he had a final statement, Rayford apologized
repeatedly to his victim’s four children who watched through a window a few
feet from him.

“Carol didn’t deserve what I done,” he said. “Please try to
find it in your heart to forgive me. I am sorry. It has bothered me for a long
time what I have done.”

He said he had made mistakes and asked God to forgive him.

“If this gives you closure and makes you feel better, I have
no problem with this taking place,” Rayford said.

As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he
lifted his head from the pillow on the death chamber gurney, repeated that he
was sorry and then said he was “going home.”

He began to snore, and within seconds all movement stopped.
He was pronounced dead at 8:48 p.m., 13 minutes after the powerful sedative was
injected.

Among the four people who witnessed the execution was the
victim’s son who was stabbed in the attack. He and three siblings showed no
emotion as they watched Rayford die. They declined interviews afterward.

The punishment was delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court
considered — and later rejected — last-day appeals from Rayford’s lawyers. The
attorneys argued his death sentence was tainted because his trial lawyer in
2000 improperly introduced the subject of race as a factor in prison violence
while questioning a prison expert during the punishment phase. Nadia Wood, a
Dallas-based federal public defender, told the high court that in bringing it
up, the trial lawyer implied “that people like Mr. Rayford — a black man — are
the cause of the violence.”

An assistant Texas attorney general, Jefferson Clendenin,
disputed the argument, telling the justices the witness never testified as an
expert in rates of violence because he wasn’t qualified to do so and that none
of the witness’ trial testimony “even implied that African-Americans are more
likely than others to be violent or that Rayford himself was a future danger.”

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.